People-Watching

I recently realized that “people-watching” is one kind of activity that actually turns out to be fun. It’s a bit strange to say it is an activity. However, after a few short video clips of people-watching appeared on my TikTok homepage, I realized that it is one of those activities that whether we realize it or not, many people are into these days. In the current era of extreme interconnectivity, perhaps we find it easier to “connect” quickly with other people, the surrounding environment, and even global society through social media. Often the activity of surfing in cyberspace makes us forget to observe things that are happening directly around us. More than that, we often forget to connect with our social environment directly.

As an observer who likes to observe various things, I really enjoy the moments when I’m on a road trip or sitting in an open space. Because in those moments I felt like I could take off the “glasses” of competition and not see that life is more than just an arena to feel like winning or losing. At this moment, I try to understand that every individual around us is also living in the same arena of life as us, with their own great stories.For example, when walking after work, we may often come across a group of online motorcycle taxi drivers who perhaps haven’t gone home since the night before because they haven’t receive many orders. Or while waiting for the KRL train to arrive at the station, we meet other fellow workers that we never knew, some of whom may be the eldest children who on that day have to immediately pay off their electricity bills, tuition fees, and school fees.

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